Summer never ends.

Lots this summer so here are some pics in case you don't speed read. Summertime around here now means, lots of fun trips to the relatives in Maine, No Cal, etc and of course celebrating Sarah's and Aiden's birthdays in the most fun and extended manners. Let me explain how we can make a few events last the entire summer with the addition of fun sports, good friends and family. I fought the traffic up to my old haunt kitesurfing spots a few times of course between other commitments and it was fun to see all the new faces that have discovered the sport. Klaus and company told some great stories of chasing great white sharks in a mini sub just down south. Great kitesurf, paraglide, mountainbike and surf adventure stories were downloaded from the rest of the crew as well. Saw a lot of our old Central Coast transplant lifeguard and kite buds as well. Aiden was turning 2 this year and Sarah and I had been talking about getting him down to his favorite Baja piece of beachfront real-play-estate since his outrageously enjoyable first birthday there last year... Well that one was two birthdays as well. As it so happens shortly after the Aidster's birthday, mama Sarah has her July 4th birthday with the usual family coming in to celebrate. Last year Sarah got her first taste of paragliding, with a tandem pilot bud and absolutely loved it. I figured what better present and great way to share my passion for the sport than to push some paragliding lessons along with other birthday wishes her way. Not so subtle, but effective So with a great family push the three of us chased three good days of lessons with MonkeyAir.com old buds at Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara. The first day was too windy, so Aiden and two very happy parents played at the Santa Barbara Zoo, had some great food in town and got home to drive back the next morning for mom's first day under a wing. Sarah absolutely loved it and her fantastic insturctors. Aiden had a ball playing on the hill with pop, mom between flights, and all his new buds including a couple of great glider chasing pooches. We hiked up and down that training hill a bazillion times. On the second and third lessons, I took along my recently reaquired wing, harness and reserve chute for Sarah's last couple of lessons. Worked on my old ground handling skill set and did quite a few flights along side Sarah. We would ride up the hill in the van together or walk up with her smiling from ear to ear saying how much she loved being in the air. It sure was fun watching her fly. At one point I was able to ridge soar the beach front site and while cruising up and down the local SB coastline, watch Sarah take her third lesson on the more inland training hill. She was doing great and with a fantastic instructor in the challenging wind. Sarah was well on her way to her first certification and set up for some nice safe and beautiful flights off of the sand dunes in San Quintin on Aiden's B Day trip. It was all coming together. We kept Aiden's head in water all summer with swim instructor mom and dad, as well as a great group down the street at our local lap pool. Sarah and I would take turns playing with Aiden at the shore or playground while the other took turns stand up paddling down the street or at Mothers Beach in Marina Del Ray. We took pretty much every one of Sarah's family members there this summer as well as mine to teach them to stand up paddle. Aiden would not be left out and found his way onto a board more than a few times in the one foot deep areas of the beach. He loved playing with his cousins, aunts, uncles and grand parents. Aiden had two birthday parties. One in Mex and one here at home with great friends at each and heaps of fun playing in the tide pools, sand dunes and playgrounds down in SQ and in Temescal Park with heaps of friends and his amped up parents. SQ blew and I was able to get out in the surf pretty much every day. Sarah and Aiden chased me down the coast in the old truck The people at the Desert Inn hotel down in SQ are old friends and made our stay happy and comfortable as ever. A decent four foot south swell put huge smiles on my face and some good ridge lift paragliding and great flights for Sarah and I kept air under our wings. Aiden would run up and down the sand dunes with his arms out to his side yelling "kite, kite" as mom flew over us to the beach. We stand up paddled the bay next to the volcanic vents and dined at the excellent local restaurants. We were surprised with a birthday cake for Aiden hand made by our old friend and mother of our baby sitters down at SQ who also works at the hotel. Thanks Loopy!! As usual the people and experiences were wonderful. It's awesome to have my family enjoys the people and beauty of San Quintin as much as I do. We had to head home too soon but were looking forward to Aiden's big second, second birthday party back at home in a day and of course our Maine trip in late July. We had lots of work with Happyinsurf.com to do as well as castings,monkeyair.com, lifeguarding, patients and the usual stuff. We stopped on the way back from SQ at Escondero Beach Resort for a little walk to stretch our legs. We ended up staying a day and scored some great pools/jaacuzzi for us to play in and a kitesurf session for dad. Next year some SUP there as well. Aiden's local B Day party was a hoot. We got him a new scooter and he took to it like a bird to the air. Sarah flew off a few times to do shoots out of state and Aiden and I had some great guys' days. He is going to think life is about, pools, parks and beaches...snicker.. and then dad stays up all night working. Sarah and I know how to get stuff done while he naps and sleeps. Focus is everything... Go, go go... We did Portland while visiting Sarah's sister and Dad and the Dear Isle with Sarah's mom. We surfed,kayaked, kitesurfed, and swam in lakes, bays and the ocean, We played in the swing at Grandmas house and overall had a blast in Deer Isle and Portland Maine. Sarah and I did a gorgeous hike on Isle Au Haut. The boat trio out to the island is an adventure in itself. Sarah's mom was along on the boat ride and we had not actually intended to do the hike but she insisted and we last saw Mom-Mom and Aiden with big smiles heading out on the boat ride back. This left us with five hours to hike the island and hop in the refreshing waters. We had a fantastic summer. Talking to Sarah last night, after putting Aiden to bed, we decided with a chuckle to just carry this summer along into the next one. There really is no "winter in California" You just wear more clothes and talk about next summer while skiing or snowboarding. Ain't life grand?